Witness

: fabricated steel sculpture

Artist Statement

by David Edgar

I believe that there continues to be validity in the atelier
tradition of creating of durable formal sculpture, which is
accessible to the public's intellect. As an artist and educator, I
advocate the mission of the arts not only to investigate and reflect
on the immediate issues of our culture, but also to be pragmatic
about the future.

These sculptures are part of the Witness Series, an ongoing
celebration of the trials, tribulations, successes, and follies of
everyday heroes i.e., Witnesses. This series is characterized by one
or more amorphous, "gesturally" carved figures placed in an
architectonic setting. The figurative Witness elements are
demographically neutral in order to provide viewers with the
opportunity to see these Witnesses as surrogates for their own
heroic potential. Narrated in part with descriptive titles, the
Witness Series relates to issues of spiritual challenge, societal
responsibility, and heroic opportunity in our daily lives.

The larger compositions of the Witness Series pieces are
influenced by architecture, landscape and theatrical set design with
an elevated stage-like planer element. Linear components, frequently
in sets of three, move throughout all three dimensions of these
works leading viewers to discover a variety of different
perspectives about the sculpture. The patterns made by these linear
elements allude to the influence of flowing
energy/information/spirituality and are informed by images found in
technology, consumer culture and the natural sciences.

The media of this work is fabricated steel, finished with a
personally developed four-step oxidation process. The components are
made from standard rolling and extrusion mill-produced steel.
Techniques involved in forming the work include: gas tungsten arc
welding; abrasive grinding; torch and saw cutting; hydraulic
shearing; bench forging; hot bending and most particularly,
oxy-acetylene torch carving.

Each of these sculptures are formatted fully in the round. The
structural geometry of the work supports a significant range of
different compositions within each piece based on the changing
angles of view. While the actual sizes of these works are modest,
the compositions have a significant flexibility of scale and may
also be considered in the context of design maquettes for potential
large-scale public art commissions.